20 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



SPAIN S TRADE WITH CUBA 



In view of the reciprocity treaty talk 

 now being heard between Spain and Cuba 

 the following trade statistics showing the 

 former's imports from and exports to the 

 island will be found interesting as show- 

 ing a very large trade balance in its favor : 



Imports Expoits 



1908 $934,569 $9,0H 1 ,993 



1909 726,744 9,653,609 



Spain's imports of Cuban tobacco in 1909 

 aggregated 1,395,753 pounds, valued at 

 $245,021; under the conditions of the new- 



treaty Cuba insists that Spain's purchase of 

 its tobacco shall not be less than $3,500,000 

 annually, which is more than Spain's im- 

 ports from all countries, according to the 

 hgures of the United States Department of 

 Commerce and Labor. 



President Gomez on July 9th signed the 

 bill appropriating $40,000 for the construc- 

 tion of a road from San Antonio de las 

 Vueltas to San Francisco ; another appro- 

 priation for $15,000 for the expenses re- 

 quired to put into effect the postal money 

 order treaty betwen Cuba and Germany. 



Notes From the Isle of Pines 



The Isle of Pines Appeal asks : "Why 

 doesn't some capitalist recognize the 

 opportunity presented by the great moun- 

 tains of marble rock on the Isle of Pines? 

 For years these great banks of marble have 

 lain idle. Not since the quarries were 

 stopped by the exhorbitant tax the Span- 

 iards levied on the sea sand, has any step 

 been taken to work the ledges. A big- 

 Havana concern is now investigating the 

 feasibility of using the marble for the 

 facades of modern buildings in Cuba. 

 Their representative found that no means 

 at all existed on the Isle for quarrying 

 tne valuable rock." 



The News suggests a system that would 

 permit the Isle of Pines to work convicts 

 on the public highways, believing that 

 thirty days in jail with work on the pub- 

 lic roads with pick and shovel would help 

 in "stopping some of the petty thievery 

 which is getting to be altogether too com- 

 mon." 



Nueva Gerona, the capital of the island, 

 has a theater. Other public buildings 

 soon to be built are a new hotel and club 

 houses for the Gallego and the De- 

 pendientes associations. These latter 

 promise to be fine up-to-date structures 

 with modern club-house appointments. 



Work is progressing steadily on the 

 dock of the Los Indios Dock and Ware- 

 house Company on Signanea Bay, and the 

 builders expect to have the work ready for 

 government inspection some time this 

 month. 



The first real complete weather bureau 

 on the Isle of Pines will be located at 

 San Pedro and will be under the observa- 

 tion of Professor Charles S. Meade, direc- 

 tor of the experiment station, and will 

 begin its observations upon the arrival of 

 the equipment which has been ordered. 



At the present time, and for all time 

 previous, says The Appeal, all deeds ren- 

 dered on the Isle of Pines have to go to 

 Havana for the affixing of the government 

 tax. The actual work this entails is only 

 a matter of a few minutes for each deed, 

 but for some reason, it takes from three 

 weeks to three months to get a deed back 

 from Flavana after it is sent in. 



Last year something over 600 deeds were 

 issued on the Isle of Pines. This year there 

 will be more. Unless some new departure 

 in rendering these deeds is inaugurated, 

 the same delay will attend every deed. 



American interests contemplate action to 

 bring about a speedier disposition of the 

 work of recording. 



The Appeal takes Americans on the Isle 

 of Pines to task for not showing that nice 

 consideration for the laws of the state 

 as they should have. It says : "There 

 are three mandates which the Americans 

 persist in violating. These are the ordi- 

 nances demanding lights on automobiles 

 and other vehicles at night, the ordinance 

 limiting auto drivers to six miles per hour 

 within the city limits, and the ordinance 

 compelling owners to tie up their teams or 

 horses instead of leaving them stand loose 

 on the city streets." 



Papers were recently signed in Havana 

 whereby Messrs. Hammond, Hammond & 

 Baker of Columbus, Ohio, owners of 

 the San Pedro estate on the Isle 

 of Pines, became the owners of some 

 3,000 acres of the Las Tunas estate, 

 formely owned by Messrs. Johnson & Hill. 



Figures giving the exact number of 

 citrus trees on the Isle of Pines and in the 

 various sections, their age, probable time 

 crops can be harvested, will soon be ready 

 for public use. They are now being col- 

 lected for publication. 



